Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 08/31/2006 12:25:35 PM PDT by neverdem
Mayor Bloomberg has been hit with another lawsuit in connection with his campaign to crack down on illegal guns.
A South Carolina gun dealer became the second storeowner to sue after Mr. Bloomberg targeted it a few months ago in an undercover sting operation designed to stymie illegal gun sales.
The lawsuit, filed in South Carolina, seeks damages and claims that the city smeared the storeowner's reputation.
Meanwhile, a gun dealer in Queens targeted by the city's investigators, Michael Spallone, 41, pleaded guilty yesterday to disorderly conduct. Mr. Bloomberg touted that plea as a victory, saying it sends a strong message that "any violation of the law that allows illegal guns to flow onto our streets will be vigorously pursued."
The punishment, a $1,000 fine, was a slap on the wrist compared to the year in prison City Hall said the dealer was facing when it announced the charges just a few months ago.
Two of the 15 gun dealers targeted by the mayor's sting operations have, however, accepted settlement deals with the city that mandate a special monitor audit their stores for the next three years, which was one of the goals the mayor pointed to when he announced the federal lawsuits.
The mayor's criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, said in a statement: "These historic settlements are unprecedented. We expect that the others will follow the example of the two Georgia dealers, who willingly came to the table to negotiate a fair settlement that keeps them in business, keeps illegal guns off the street, and keeps them on the right side of the law."
For the two gun dealers suing the city for damages, however, it was the mayor's original tenor and lack of jurisdiction in their towns that led them to start a legal battle with City Hall...
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
He targeted out-of-state sellers? How can he do that legally?
Most befitting a NYCity liberal. Like Rudy Giuliani, Mayor Bloomberg is follows in the footsteps of all the pro-gun control, anti-2nd amendment leftwing that is bound and determined to slowly undermine Americans Constitutional RKBA. Anyone who thinks the end goal of liberalism is not to have a total ban on firearms, is a fool.
I agree completely.
Rather than being a cause for celebration, that statement is tantamount to an admission that the Bloomberg administration is criminally corrupt and is abusing power by inventing crimes that no honest mayor in an earlier time would have dared to attempt.
He probably can't - but why should silly things like "laws" get in the way of Bloomberg?
He can't. Bloomberg and his henchmen broke several laws during this debacle. Gun owners should be demanding that AG Gonzalez bring the scumbag up on charges.
ping i hope they bankrupt the city with thier lawsuits and those two dealers that settled were complete idiots
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
"On June 20th, I was pleased to announce that the City of New York filed a lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors."
Four years from now, FReepers will say Bloomie is a good Pres candidate, too, because he's popular (NOT!) and is a republican. Well, he sure is NOT a conservative, and neither is Rudy.
Ha can't.
If AG Gonzalez - and Dubya - had any balls this little mope Bloomie and his 'private investigators' would be in Federal custody N-O-W. He wantonly violated dozens of Federal Laws in his little ILLEGAL sting operation. Not to mention state and local firearms laws.
The power mad s.o.b took the law into his own hands. He had ZERO legal authority -- period.
Your point is well taken, especially the gradual shift toward totalitarian behavior that most citizens don't even notice.
Simple. The government of New York City has annointed itself as our new federal government.
Starting next year you'll be paying federal taxes to them instead of Washington.
Like Rudy Giuliani, Mayor Bloomberg
The only actual charge mentioned was the disorderly conduct charge the one shop owner pled guilty for, which may very well be related to how he handled himself after the police did their little "sting operation".
However, it sounds like some of these shop owners had their inventories confiscated and their stores closed over misdemeanors charges.
I suspect that if that is the case they will have a very good chance of winning large settlements against NYC. Closing down the store and confiscating inventories could very well have cost those companies tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is way out of line for the commission of a misdemeanor.
It also sounds like the officers might have simply confused the salesmen by having one of the two show a card allowing him to purchase a gun in NYC and putting it away, followed by having both of them ask questions and handle the guns, followed finally by having the person who didn't show the card attempt to purchase the gun, saying that he had already shown the card.
That would mean they ran a successful con on the shop owner and caused him to sell a gun illegally by mistake, not by intent.
That would explain the misdemeanor charge.
If the closed the store down and confiscated all their weapons after such a ploy, there should be some HUGE civil suits over this.
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